TOWN 1 BLACKBURN 1
Blackburn were the first opponents to visit the John Smith’s Stadium as Town kicked off the 2015/16 home campaign.
Powell made four changes, notably the inclusion of Sean Scannell who was making his first appearance of the season having missed the prior two games due to injury. Mark Hudson, Jonathon Hogg and Jacob Butterfield were the other three changes as Town looked to bounce back from the midweek exit in the Capital One Cup at the hands of Notts County.
Blackburn started well, with a deflected Jordan Rhodes free-kick being the better of the opening exchanges.
Town then found a way back into the game, with Scannell beating his man and the resulting corner finding Mark Hudson in the area who had his powerful header cleared off the line.
Scannell was causing all sorts of problems with his pace down the right wing and this showed in the ninth minute when his low cross found Ishmael Miller in the box who saw his shot parried right into the path of Nahki Wells who blasted his shot into the back of the net to give Town a 1-0 lead.
Blackburn nearly made an instant reply when Modou Barrow took on two Town players only to cut it back for Craig Conway who put his shot wide of the mark.
In the 21st minute Jonathan Hogg made an excellent interception against the run of play and then found Nahki Wells who scuffed the eventual shot wide.
The game then settled down with the next chance coming in the 27th minute after some lovely build-up play from Town; Ishmael Miller was unable to hit the target with the resulting shot.
Mark Hudson was then booked in the 31st minute for an off the ball incident against the run of play on Barrow.
Then, once again against the run of play, Jordan Rhodes found himself through one on one and bearing down on goal, but found a strong Joe Murphy - who foiled his effort in the 34th minute.
The last notable piece of action from the first half were a couple of consecutive corners for Town, both of which came to nothing.
The second half began and after only 40 seconds Town old boy Jordan Rhodes picked up an injury after a strong tackle from summer recruit Dean Whitehead. He soon went off injured and was replaced in the 48th minute by Fode Koita.
Town then broke down the left wing through Jason Davidson who was fouled on the edge of the box. Nahki Wells took the resulting free kick and blazed it well over the crossbar.
After an extended spell of Huddersfield possession Blackburn made a double substitution in the 55th minute bringing off Barrow and Danny Guthrie and replacing them with Hope Akpan and Nathan Delfouneso. It turned out to be a master stroke as Ben Marshall delivered a pinpoint cross from deep and after a cushioned header down by Koita he found an unmarked Delfouneso who buried his shot past the helpless Murphy.
Blackburn then maintained their pressure with Conway causing the town backline all kinds of problems.
A flurry of chances followed and in the 66th minute Jacob Butterfield hit a shot that was parried into the path of Sean Scannell who had his resulting effort cleared off the line for the second time of the day.
It didn’t end there as Davidson once again got through after some excellent play by Jonathan Hogg and the eventual cross found Nahki Wells in the area who put his chance wide.
Town then made their first substitution with Ishmael Miller being substituted by Harry Bunn in the 71st minute. Conway was then causing more problems for the town defence beating Tommy Smith on the left wing and producing a cross that was cleared after some good defending by Jason Davidson.
It was then role reversal in the 82nd minute as Tommy Smith burst free down the right wing producing a perfect cross to Nahki Wells who put his header into the side netting, much to the surprise of half the ground who thought it had gone in.
In the 89th minute Harry Bunn fought his way into the area after a neat 1-2 with Jacob Butterfield but curled his effort straight into the hands of the Blackburn goalkeeper.
Overall, it was a draw for Huddersfield Town in a game that they could have won. Powell and his men will now be looking to Tuesday as they host Brighton & Hove Albion at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Town’s team (3-5-2):
Joe Murphy; Joel Lynch, Mark Hudson (c), Tommy Smith; Jason Davidson, Jonathan Hogg, Dean Whitehead, Jacob Butterfield, Sean Scannell; Ishmael Miller (Harry Bunn, 72), Nahki Wells
Unused substitutes:
Lloyd Allinson, Martin Cranie, Murray Wallace, Jordy Hiwula, Kyle Dempsey, Adam Hammill
